Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Ethiopia suggests ‘means testing’ international climate efforts

(Feb 27, RTCC)--Ethiopia has suggested means testing national obligations in the UN climate process by analysing GDP and emissions output every five years. In what could prove a controversial submission to the UN climate agency, the UNFCCC, it proposes reclassifying nations from rich to poor and vice versa.

It also suggests that it believes more nations should contribute climate finance as efforts to raise $100bn a year continue. The UNFCCC divides nations by their wealth as it was more than 20 years ago, and agrees to base actions on “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.

Many major emerging economies such as Brazil, Mexico, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are currently in the same category as the world’s poorest countries. Wealthy countries listed in Annex I of the Convention agreed to adopt national policies to reduce emissions. Those also listed in Annex II committed to providing financial assistance to other nations.

“It is not only the greenhouse gas emissions of some developing countries that have dramatically increased since 1992. Their economies have also grown substantively,” reads the Ethiopian proposal. “For these reasons, it will no longer be sufficient to leave mitigation requirements to the Annex I Parties identified 1992, and it may even no longer be sufficient to assign financial support requirements to the Annex II Parties identified as rich in 1992.

“Therefore, there is a global need to raise ambition for countering climate change more collectively than was seen as necessary in 1992.” It suggests a uniform equation assessing a whether a nation has run out of its “atmospheric space” or put simply, its population has emitted more than its fair share of greenhouse gases. Read more from RTCC »

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